The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B570 ranks 2999th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the lower third of all configurations in the database. This is a surprisingly modest position given the hardware’s apparent capability, and the benchmark data reveals why: the Arc B570’s performance collapses under the game’s highest settings, dragging the combo down despite the CPU’s strong showing. The data shows a clear pattern—the GPU becomes the limiting factor at every resolution, and the CPU’s high multi-threaded scores do little to rescue frame rates when the graphics card is saturated. Percentile rankings reinforce this: the CPU sits in the 91st percentile among all processors, while the GPU is in the 65th percentile, meaning the bottleneck is almost entirely on the graphics side. For a game like The Medium, which relies heavily on fixed camera angles and layered scenes, the frame time consistency matters as much as raw averages, and the measured FPS dips at Medium settings confirm that even mid-tier presets strain this GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 60 FPS on a 1920x1080 monitor?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The measured average at 1080p Low is 78 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. At Medium, the average drops to 49 FPS, and at High it falls to 35 FPS, so those presets are not playable at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting for 2560x1440 resolution?

A: Low is the only playable option. The 1440p Low preset delivers an average of 66 FPS, just above the 60 FPS line. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS—all below the playable threshold.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 stronger than the Intel Arc A750?

A: The benchmark scores are nearly identical. The Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, while the Arc A750 scores 20582, a delta of -0.1%. In practical terms, the two GPUs should behave the same in this game, with the A750 holding a negligible edge.

Q: How does the Core i7-14700F compare to the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X in compute performance?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620, while the Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53288, giving the Intel chip a 0.6% lead. This is a margin that would not produce a noticeable difference in The Medium, which is GPU-bound in most scenarios.

Q: Does the game run better at 4K with lower settings?

A: At 3840x2160, no setting reaches 60 FPS. Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 32 FPS with a minimum of 27, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. Even the lowest preset falls short of the playable threshold by 8 FPS.

Q: What is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS at any resolution?

A: The only preset that clears 60 FPS is Low at both 1080p (78 FPS) and 1440p (66 FPS). No Medium, High, or Ultra setting at any tested resolution reaches the 60 FPS target.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the Intel Arc B570 is the dominant factor in this game’s performance, regardless of resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 29 FPS (78 vs 49), while the difference between Medium and High is 14 FPS (49 vs 35). This steep drop with each preset increase points to the GPU’s shader and memory subsystem being overwhelmed, as the CPU has ample headroom—its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 is among the top tier, and its boost clock reaches 5.40 GHz. At 1440p, the pattern holds: Low produces 66 FPS, but Medium drops to 41 FPS, a 25 FPS decline. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings only costs 12 FPS (78 to 66), which suggests the CPU is still feeding the GPU adequately at lower presets. However, at High settings, the same resolution jump costs only 6 FPS (35 to 29), showing that the GPU is already saturated and adding pixels has diminishing impact.

At 4K, the GPU bottleneck becomes severe. Low settings yield 52 FPS, but Medium falls to 32 FPS, and Ultra drops to 18 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K (20 FPS) is larger than the 1080p gap (29 FPS between Low and Medium), but the absolute numbers are so low that the CPU’s role is negligible. The i7-14700F’s 20 cores and 28 threads are not the constraint here; the Arc B570’s 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus width are insufficient for the game’s high-resolution textures and layered rendering. The measured FPS data shows that at every resolution, the preset scaling follows a similar curve: Low is playable (or near-playable at 4K), Medium drops by roughly 30-40%, and High/Ultra become slideshows. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario where the CPU’s single-thread performance (PassMark single-thread score of 4257) and multi-core muscle cannot compensate for the graphics card’s limits.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in benchmark scores are the Intel Xeon 6505P, Intel Xeon Phi 7290, AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, and AMD EPYC 7313P. The Xeon 6505P scores 53701 (0.2% ahead of the i7-14700F), the Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469 (0.3% behind), the Ryzen 9 7900X scores 53288 (0.6% behind), and the EPYC 7313P scores 53206 (0.8% behind). For The Medium, these differences are imperceptible—all four CPUs would deliver identical frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios. The practical takeaway is that if a build uses any of these processors, the gaming experience would be the same, with the GPU being the sole determinant of FPS. The i7-14700F’s 33 MB of L3 cache and DDR5 support might help in CPU-light tasks, but the game’s measured data shows no CPU-related stutter or bottleneck at any preset.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, Intel Arc A750, NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, and AMD Radeon R9 M390X. The RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (0.1% behind the B570), the Arc A750 scores 20582 (0.1% ahead), the Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (0.4% behind), and the R9 M390X scores 20662 (0.5% ahead). These deltas are within noise, meaning a system with any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical FPS in The Medium. The Arc A750 is particularly relevant as a direct Intel comparison—it uses the older Alchemist architecture but performs at the same level as the Battlemage-based B570 in this game. The RTX 3070 Mobile, despite being a laptop part, also matches the B570’s desktop performance, which is a telling sign of the B570’s positioning. For users considering upgrades, the data suggests that moving to any of these alternatives would not change the playability verdict—all would struggle at High settings and above.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 78 FPS on Low, 49 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 41 and maximum of 56), 35 FPS on High, and 28 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset’s min-max range of 41-56 shows significant frame time variance, which could cause noticeable hitches in a game that relies on smooth camera transitions. At 2560x1440, Low produces 66 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS (min 35, max 47), High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The 1440p Medium range of 35-47 FPS is tighter than the 1080p Medium range, but still below the 60 FPS target. At 3840x2160, Low averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 32 FPS (min 27, max 37), High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The 4K Low preset is the only 4K option that comes close to playability, but its 52 FPS average still misses the 60 FPS mark by 8 FPS.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution’s Medium preset has a min-max spread of roughly 10-15 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s frame pacing is inconsistent under load. The 1080p Medium range (41-56) and 1440p Medium range (35-47) both show that the GPU can occasionally hit higher FPS, but the averages are dragged down by sustained drops. At 4K Medium, the min of 27 FPS suggests severe hitches during scene transitions, which would be jarring in a horror game that frequently changes camera angles. The High and Ultra presets at all resolutions have no min/max data, but their low averages (18-35 FPS) suggest they are unplayable for any extended session.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but only under strict conditions. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, there are no playable settings—the best option (Low) averages 52 FPS, which falls 8 FPS short of the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440, Low is the sole playable preset, averaging 66 FPS, which clears the threshold by a comfortable 6 FPS margin. At 1920x1080, Low is also the only playable setting, averaging 78 FPS, which provides a 18 FPS buffer. The data indicates that the combo cannot handle Medium settings at any resolution, as the lowest Medium average (49 FPS at 1080p) is still below 60 FPS. For users who prioritize visual fidelity, this system would require dropping to Low and accepting the graphical compromises, which in The Medium means reduced texture quality and fewer volumetric effects. The game’s fixed-camera design mitigates some of the need for high FPS, but the 27 FPS minimum at 4K Medium shows that even mid-range settings cause frame drops.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best (and only) playable preset is Low, which delivers an average of 78 FPS. This provides enough headroom for occasional dips without falling below 60 FPS, though the game’s slower pacing means even a drop to the 50s would be tolerable. At 2560x1440, Low is the optimal choice, averaging 66 FPS. This is a marginal pass—any scene with heavy particle effects or dynamic lighting could push the average down, so users should monitor performance during gameplay. At 3840x2160, no preset is playable, and the best option remains Low at 52 FPS, which is not recommended for a smooth experience. The data suggests that for this combo, the playable ceiling is Low at 1440p, and users with 4K displays should either lower the resolution or accept sub-60 FPS performance. The measured FPS at 1440p Low (66) and 1080p Low (78) both show that the GPU can handle the game’s core mechanics, but the moment settings rise, the 10 GB memory buffer and 380 GB/s bandwidth become insufficient.